Nov. 13 (UPI) — Six people were injured and hundreds fled in terror when a driver plowed through a crowd celebrating a street carnival in Los Angeles late Saturday, police said.
All of those injured at the site of incident at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Trinity Street in South Central Los Angeles were between 30 and 50 years of age, authorities told KTLA-TV.
Video posted to social media showed people fleeing from the carnival on foot as the incident unfolded.
Police said the incident began when officers tried to pull over the driver of a white Porsche Cayenne, but he refused to stop.
The driver, who has not yet been identified, smashed through a set of barricades and emerged onto the closed-off Martin Luther King Boulevard in the South Los Angeles neighborhood, Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Robert Leary told KABC-TV.
“It looks like he tried to get out of the fair, but because of the barricades, he was unable to get out of the fair so he continued on westbound (Martin Luther King Blvd.), continuing through the crowd of people, which we estimate was between 1,000 and 2,000 people.”
Leary said it was “a blessing” that no one was killed in the incident, given the crowds packed onto the street.
“People were screaming, it was quite hectic, but I think people saw this car coming at them and they, thankfully, were able to get out of the way in time,” he said.
